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When you are buying a home, you may look for several features, such as a charming neighborhood, great curb appeal, or spacious rooms. However, there are several other factors you should consider when buying a home, to make sure that you and your family will be happy with your investment for years to come.

First, you should look at the exterior of the property, including the siding and the roof. Does the siding look worn, or in need of paint or repairs? Are the roof shingles securely fastened? Do you notice any sagging in the home’s roof? These items can represent major repair expenses, so you will want to look closely at them to make sure that you will not have to spend thousands of dollars in maintenance costs after you move in.

Second, you should look at the condition of appliances and mechanicals. Are the refrigerator, garbage disposal, plumbing fixtures, and furnace in good working order? Also, have these items been recently updated, or does the house come with older models that may need to be replaced within a few years?

Third, pay close attention to the ceilings, particularly on the top floor. Discolored, cracked, or sagging ceilings may indicate that the roof has leaked – again, representing a major repair expense. Cracks in the ceiling or walls may also indicate structural problems with the home, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars to remedy.

Finally, take a look at the neighborhood surrounding your home. Have the neighbors kept their homes’ exteriors updated? Are lawns and landscaping properly maintained? Do the neighbors feel comfortable letting children play outside? The condition of your neighborhood can be an indicator of whether your home will increase in value.

If you have doubts about the features of your home or the condition of your neighborhood, it is a good idea to consult with an experienced real estate agent, who can help you determine if a particular home is a worthwhile investment.

When you buy a new home, one of the most common problems homeowners run into is how they are going to move their pet. Here is some must know information that you need if you’re going to successfully relocate your pet.

Preparing for your move

Many pet are nervous travelers. If your dog or cat hasn’t done a lot of traveling in the car or by plane, then it’s probably a good idea to get them checked out by their vet beforehand. Ask your veterinarian if they have any sedatives that can help your pet relax during a stressful car ride or plane. Purchase a car carrier large enough so that they will be comfortable for however long the trip may be. Remember, Airlines have special instructions on what type of crates they can accept live animals in, so check with the manufacture’s label to make sure that their carriers are FAA approved. If they aren’t, you’ll be turned away at the gate!

Moving day’s here!

It’s time, all the boxes are packed, the truck is ready to go, and it’s time to sedate your pet. If you can, keep them close so you can help keep them calm, or reassure them whenever they’re not sleeping during the move. Keep water, food and treats handy to help distract your pet from the stress of the move.

There are also several great websites online that can give you additional tips to help you out while traveling with your pet. Trips with Pets is a notable resource that many people turn to with great success.

Gradually adjust your pet to their new environment

A new home can be stressful for a pet. Nothing smells familiar, and everything is new. To make sure that a pet feels comfortable in their new home, help them by gradually adjusting them to their new living space. Introduce your pet to one new room at a time, this way, by limiting your pet’s space; they can become more comfortable with a new room over time instead of being overwhelmed by what may look like an infinite amount of new places to the pet.

If you have a huge (and hopefully fenced) backyard, you’ll want to make sure there are no holes that sneaky pets can dig under and get away from you with. Inspect your fence line carefully and fill in any holes or natural depressions you may find with rocks or cement. A good way to help them acclimate to their new backyard, you can put them on a leash that limits their movements while they’re outside. This way, they can safely explore the backyard while you shore up any possible places for them to escape.

Final inspection

While your pet is inside, you’ll want to make sure there aren’t any loose wires, or places where they might hurt themselves. Do your best to eliminate or cover any potential problem areas you may find. Your pet will be very unfamiliar with its new area, and will do their best to explore and get lost. They also may show signs of stress by eating, chewing, or scratching themselves or their environment. If there’s a way for them to get out or cause trouble, your pet will probably find it, so you’ll have to stay ahead of them. It is best to keep them crated when you are aware until they are comfortable with their new environment. You can gradually increase the amount of time and area as your pet gets more comfortable with the new home.

Transitioning a pet is tough for many people, but it can be done if you are patient and prepared. Put an emphasis on your pet’s health and they’ll be there to share many more happy memories with you in your brand new home!

Once upon a time, owning a home was considered to be one of the safest investments someone could make. These days with thousands of people underwater with the mortgages, and many others have walked away, owning a home has become a lot scarier, and out of reach for many. While it may be scary to purchase your first home (especially after all the bad press about the recent real estate bubble), it’s still one of the best investments anyone can make for your future. Owning a home doesn’t have to be scary. The easiest way to minimize that risk is by following these crucial steps.

One of the biggest problems people faced when they were having trouble with their homes was that they took out an adjustable rate mortgage. The appeal of an initially low interest rate got a lot of people into homes. Unfortunately, many were not prepared when the interest rate increased and the monthly mortgage went up, squeezing the homeowner out of their home.

While adjustable rate mortgages are appealing because of their promises of a low interest rate, a fixed rate mortgage allows the homeowner to plan much further in advance. This predictability for your finances is invaluable for many, and the peace of mind is worth much more than what you might otherwise initially save by using a special or adjustable rate mortgage.

Put a Home Warranty in Place

One of the most common things potential homeowners talk about as a deterrent to buying a home is the fact that when they buy it, that’s it, they’re the ones responsible for whatever may go wrong. That’s why to help alleviate that risk, when buying your home, you should put a home warranty in place. A home warranty will help cover any major costs associated with the general upkeep and maintenance of your new home. This is mostly limited to things like fixing a leaky roof, a broken hot water heater, or wiring that may have gone wrong at some point.

Your home warranty will begin once you close on your home kicks in. Depending on the coverage you selected, this warranty will help cover your home against whatever may break, wear out or need replacing. Some companies even offer you coverage for major home appliances like your dishwasher or specialty fixtures that may come with the home. In Atlanta, the seller is usually willing to pay for it for the first year.

Inspect & Price Potential Repairs

Your dream home may be in the perfect neighborhood, close to the best schools and right next to work, but you don’t want to move into a place that all sorts of problems that you’d be responsible for after purchasing. Generally, pest and roof inspectors will provide you with an estimate if they encounter any problems. A more general inspection report of the home could reveal many problems that will need to be repaired before you move in. Work with your agent, you should be able to schedule actual repair contractors to come and evaluate the home before you buy and help put together a few bids to give you a better idea of how much work will be needed after your purchase. Going into buying the home with all the knowledge you can get is the best way to negotiate more favorable terms.

Buy with the Next Ten Years in Mind

Purchasing a home comes with certain expectations. Many people who got in trouble over the last few years were trying to play the market and “flip” those properties quickly for a profit. When buying a home now, you should buy with the expectation that you will be living there for at least the next five to ten years. This can give you a better peace of mind knowing that you will have a place that you can come home to while supporting your investment for a long time to come. Things happen in life obviously, so you can’t predict everything that will happen in the next ten years (new job, larger family, etc), but when buying the home, look for one that you can imagine seeing yourself in for the next ten years.

There are no guarantees when you are buying a home. That’s why the more you prepare and think long term, the better off you will be.

When it is time to move, it is time for decisions. The choices you make when planning a move will determine how your family handles the stress of moving. Properly planned your move can be an exciting adventure or it can be a depressing disaster.

The first thing you do is to make contact with a removals company for their ideas and suggestions for help in preparing for your move. They may want to come do a survey, which you should gratefully welcome. This allows their moving professionals to see what is involved and what will be needed. The things needed for preparation are considerably different if you are moving to another country or just down the lane to the next village. You can search for removals companies in your area online. For example if you lived in Cambridge you can search for Cambridge Removals.

Make sure you involve everyone in the family in the process of preparation for the move. Let the children inventory their things and identify things they would like to give away to charity. Things are worn out and used, may not be wanted anymore by your family but they may be wonderful things for a family in need. The bottom line is that what you move should only be items you expect to need at your new home.

Before any packing is done, make sure you take a written inventory of everything in the house. The best way to start is to make a video or take photographs of everything that will come on the move. This provides you with proof of items involved in the relocation. This type of data is necessary and probably required by your insurance company if a claim needs to be filed.

Check several times to be sure dangerous items are not transported with your personal items. No chemical agents, fuels or batteries should be packed away with any of your goods. Your removals agent can give you a list of dangerous or banned substances that cannot accompany your household goods.

Make sure that items you take with you personally are safely put away. Somehow it seems that something always gets packed that you needed to take with you. Avoid this problem by selecting things to take, for each person in the family, and storing them safely away.

Any items you plan to put in storage should be moved to storage before the main day of moving. Making multiple moves to different locations in the same day is not an experience you should want to endure.

The more you plan the better your move will proceed. Have the children research about the new place you will live, and plan the trip to get there. Keeping everyone involved is the key, along with good planning, to a fantastic moving experience.

Ursula Jones writes on a number of subjects including moving home and using removals companies. For Cambridge removals please see http://cambridgevanman.co.uk/

Lynwood Park subdivision, located in the DeKalb County area of Lynwood Park in DeKalb County, GA.

Lynwood Park subdivision, Atlanta, GA is conveniently located in DeKalb County near Ashford-Dunwoody Road. The neighborhood is only minutes away from fine shopping and dining in the Perimeter or minutes to Buckhead.

Lynwood Park is very close to outstanding amenities such as various restaurants and outdoor recreation and near Perimeter Mall Plaza. Lynwood Park is one of Lynwood Park most established and desirable neighborhoods

The outstanding local schools that serve are Montgomery Elementary School, Chamblee Middle School and Chamblee High School the school buses make stops throughout the neighborhood.

Homes in Lynwood Park are typically priced from the $500,000-$550,000, so there really are homes in a choice of price ranges for any Lynwood Park or DeKalb home buyer.

The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM Program of GAMLS. All real estate listings are marked with the GAMLS Broker ReciprocitySM thumbnail logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers.

The broker providing these data believes them to be correct, but advises interested parties to confirm them before relying on them in a purchase decision.

Atlanta has a many luxury homes all around the city. There are some inside the city – Buckhead, Emory, North Druid Hills, Morningside, and many more areas. Outside the perimeter, most of the luxury homes are going to be in North Fulton.

Luxury homes have many features paying extra details to kitchens and bathrooms. This home has a apron sink, plenty of cabinet space, high end appliances and lots of natural light.

The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM Program of GAMLS. All real estate listings are marked with the GAMLS Broker ReciprocitySM thumbnail logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers.

The broker providing these data believes them to be correct, but advises interested parties to confirm them before relying on them in a purchase decision.

Rivermoore Park subdivision, located in the Gwinnett County area of Suwanee in Gwinnett County, GA.

Rivermoore Park subdivision, Suwanee, GA. is conveniently located in Gwinnett County near Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. The neighborhood is only minutes away from fine shopping and dining at The Forum Mall area

Rivermoore Park is very close to outstanding amenities like, Porto Bello Italian Restaurant and several shops and local area parks. Rivermoore Park is one of Suwanee’s most established and desirable neighborhoods

The outstanding local schools that serve are Level Creek Elementary School, Lanier Middle School and North Gwinnett High School the school buses make stops throughout the neighborhood.

Homes in Rivermoore Parkare typically priced from the $500,000-$650,000, so there really are homes in a choice of price ranges for any Suwanee or Gwinnett home buyer.

The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM Program of GAMLS. All real estate listings are marked with the GAMLS Broker ReciprocitySM thumbnail logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers.

The broker providing these data believes them to be correct, but advises interested parties to confirm them before relying on them in a purchase decision.

As we head into Fall 2012, we are seeing the typical slow down as we traditionally expect in the fall for both sales and rentals.

Atlanta Area Homes Sale

Since this is an election year, we expect that people are in a holding pattern until the election results are in before people make a purchasing decision. Due to the effects of the “robo-signing” for foreclosures, there was a significant drop off in the foreclosure market. However, a couple of weeks ago, all the fall out has been completed and we expect to see a huge increase in foreclosure filings. August saw 19% increase in advertised foreclosures from July to August. So this will also impact the available home inventory. Currently the home inventory is pretty low, approximately 45,000 active homes on the market today. It will take time for the advertised foreclosure homes to be foreclosed and be introduced into the market. One reputable source estimates that we will see 10,000 advertised Atlanta foreclosures by the end of 2012.

Here are some 2012 Atlanta Real Estate Trends:

We are seeing a huge increase of buyers paying cash for homes. Most of these purchases are real estate investors, but there are several home owner occupied buyers as well.

Banks are listing properties below market value, creating a frenzy, then pitting buyers against each other for highest and best. So in essence, the banks are creating a reverse auction. While this is netting higher returns for the banks, it is creating confusion, frustration and insecurity among buyers.

Another strategy that banks are using is fixing up the foreclosed homes and getting them in buying condition. This leaves real estate investors less inventory that they can purchase, rehab, & make money on. Since traditionally foreclosed homes were not able to qualify for FHA financing, the only ones who would be able to purchase were investors who would then fix them up for profit and then sell them to traditional home buyers.

Banks are not filing the Deeds Under Power. So what does that mean? It means that it is taking a much longer time to close. While we started seeing this trend late last year, it is becoming more prevalent. You can read more about this & the impact it has at New Registration Law.

So what do we have to look forward to in 4th quarter 2012 & into 2013? We believe it will be more of the same until we get some consumer confidence. Want to know what is going on in the Atlanta Rental Market? Click here for information on Atlanta Area Homes for Rent.

The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM Program of GAMLS. All real estate listings are marked with the GAMLS Broker ReciprocitySM thumbnail logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers.

The broker providing these data believes them to be correct, but advises interested parties to confirm them before relying on them in a purchase decision.